Hi there.
In this release we are introducing a new way to save images when capturing. When you’ll be recording new captures they’ll be automatically saved to the Pictures folder on your device and you can access them from outside the Mapillary application. This feature can be turned on/off by a toggle in Settings.
Changes
saving captured images to Pictures directory
option to download images from not yet uploaded captures when in multiselect mode
fix for Infinix and Tecno Android devices
app stability improvements
If you have any questions, or suggestions - please report them here.
I would like the ability to import some other folder with photos ( of course with location) and could send them.
That’s it I need a universal mobile uploader
While mapping and capturing images, it would be quite useful to be able to filter on the type type images that one is currently capturing, so once can focus on the are where the coverages missing for that type of image. (The 360 imagery coverage is in general poor so-far, so specialized support is likely needed to improve on that.)
This functionality does exists in the web-app (in the “Filter imagery” menu), that one tend to that recommends the mobile/android app for a “better experience” - (and that just make me more frustrated due to do the missing functionality… as I then tend to start switching between 3~4 apps to figure out my next action, which is very time consuming)
Other things that would also be rather useful to have in the app.
On that note, it would also be very useful if the app could include a simple GPS tracker overlay function in the map view, so one could more easily see what has been covered in the current session. Start, Clear, GPX Export would be the most useful/basic functions.
Last but not least, most countries have areas/buildings that are legally not allowed to be imaged (or inappropriate to do so); and when they are near thoughways and/or other major streets, it very easy to accidentally make a mistake and get in trouble. Thus it would be quite useful to be able to load a overlay with collections of “do not capture images” areas in the map view, that would also temporarily suspend capturing while in one of the areas.
A remote control possibility for external cameras would be nice-to-have, as for example the Rioch Theta X can be controlled over bluetooth. Unfortunately 360 camera are frequently mounted in places, where maintaining a connections can be challenging…
A 360 coverage filter makes a lot of sense - glad you found the temporary workaround by using Mapillary web, we’ll put adding this to the mobile apps on the backlog.
For GPX Export - what is your use case for that? For example, the Ricoh Theta X includes GPS information in the capture, and generally having a seperate GPX file is sub-optimal because its prone to get out of sync with the imagery captured.
Thank you as well for the remote control suggestion - that is unfortunately a little bit difficult to do as not all camera manufacturers open their APIs for other apps to control their cameras, and maintaining this would be tricky as cameras change, etc. For now, I think using the official app that comes with the camera is the best bet.
GPX Export
Yes, the .MP4 files Ricoh Theta X would contain the GPS data, but there is no guarantee that the recording will be successful - the camera does have a tenancy fail to save the data now and then (app/UI crash/hang, overheating, lost power, etc). Thus if the app have collected the GPS data, including movement between (retained) recordings, it would likely useful to be able to save the and upload it OSM - as a fallback verifying the map data…
For the Ricoh Theta V that would not be the case, though it is possible to run a GPS tracker like “OSMTracker for Android” in parallel - (this is essentially what the former GSV app did to support the camera); unfortunately from practical experience I have found it very easy to forget to start one of the critical applications, and then end up with number of unusable video files, thus the more the process can be simplified the better. So in this case a separate GPX file is required to be able to uploading the captured video/images. (Yes, I have one, and if you remember to sync the cameras time to GSP before you start recording, it isn’t that bad. Getting a good/accurate GPS track in the first place proved to be more of a challenge - for sure not possible to do while holding the phone in your hand; however mounted on the dashboard or pressed to the shoulder works much better. On and off, I only had a ~20% success rate with the GSV app, until I figured out the workarounds, and pitfalls with the Theta app settings and how these could tigger race conditions in the GSV app. And yes, the camera has built-in GPS-receiver - but it only records a single position per file, same as the Theta X up to FW 2.3 where GSV support was added incl. 2/10 FPS modes.)
I believe this also applies for Insta360 cameras - as these do not have built-in GPS either; though there is GPS accessory, but I doubt every owner & Mapillary user has invested in one…
Thanks for the explanation @brunofilmklov. For insta360 x3/x4 there is no on-camera GPS, but the camera pairs with the insta360 app on the phone to provide the functionality (and write the GPX data directly into the video file). Basically this type of direct pairing should in theory be more reliable, because otherwise manual intervention is needed to synchronize the clocks and the exact recording start/stop time. This is a bit prone to error, and its hard to detect when its not working (because the GPX is technically valid, its just likely to be a little offset), so its not something we recommend, but there are a number of GPX recording apps - sounds like you’re well versed there.
Yes, I’m aware of sync challenges, (and agree that sometimes is not that easy to realize that there is offset).
However that was not the primary intended use case for the GPX file export - that was upload to OSM. Generally if I use an application collect GPS track, I want to be able to use that in case my primarily method of generating .gps files fails - and I have learned the hard way not to trust the camera, even if it usually tend to more stabilized/poisoned and thus accurate the the phone. As for GPX recording apps, they are useless if you forget to start 'em, or drain the battery when you forget about them.
